Seven months!

As you probably noticed from the ticker, Ava is now seven months old!! I can't believe it's going by so quickly--I'm already thinking about her first birthday party. (No, it's NEVER too early to think about these things...) She's babbling away like crazy and is always making us laugh with new noises and faces...she still sleeps well (naps aren't as consistently good but she NEVER fusses at bedtime) with the exception of crying at approx. 4am EVERY SINGLE NIGHT...but I think I have it figured out--she's uncomfortable for one reason or another. Sometimes she gets up on all fours in her sleep and can't figure out how to lay back down again, sometimes the covers are off and she's cold, etc. The good thing is that as soon as I go in and fix whatever is wrong she drops right back to sleep. She's almost crawling--gets up like a pro, can move her knees, but the hands don't seem to know what to do. She still has a cold and I'm considering calling the doctor and telling them to either do something or refer me to somebody who can. Poor kid has had a million checkups concerning her tailbone, kidneys, and hip joint--all of which appear to be fine--but nobody will do anything about what is REALLY wrong with her! It's extremely frustrating.

Anyhow--a quick update of the week. Monday we stayed home from school because Ava had a really rough night the night before, she was up most of the time, screaming with terrible gas pains. I didn't want to drag her to day care after that so we stayed home...good thing because she randomly came down with a fever of 102.2! What the heck? I really don't understand kids and fevers but luckily it wasn't serious and some Tylenol brought it right down. The rest of the week went smoothly except for me having a small meltdown Wednesday evening...I was just feeling really guilty about leaving Ava all day so I could go to work. I still think it's the best thing for our family and she's doing great, but every now and then I miss her more than usual and break down a little bit. Yesterday Aunt Kathy and Uncle Chuck came over for our (3rd) farewell meal, but this time they are REALLY leaving. :o( Going to Arizona in about a week. We're really going to miss having them around! Ava had fun hanging out but it stinks she's too young to remember it. Anyhow, this morning has been my morning on baby duty and it's been wonderful. She woke up at 4am of course, then again at 6:00 to eat--went down afterwards for about an hour and woke up so I brought her in to bed with me and she slept for another 1-1 1/2 hours! It was raining outside and there is nothing better than snuggling in bed and dozing while it rains outside. When she woke up for real, we sat on the porch in our pajamas and watched the rain. Now, she's bouncing in the Einstein jumper and I'm about to get her breakfast ready.

Lastly--if anybody knows of a photo site that sucks considerably less than Bubbleshare, could you clue me in? I'm trying to post photos but it's being a piece of crap and not working. UGH!!!!!